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Day 2 - 6:35 AM
We're just about to set out on the road. Breakfast is being served. Harry and I will start the day in a brand-new Cayenne S Hybrid with no mileage on it. Like the Turbo S we drove last summer, Porsche wastes no time in preparing and breaking in their rides. Gotta love it.
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| Photo: Mathieu St-Pierre/Auto123.com |
The convoy will be heading north towards Prince George today.
By the way, our hybrid Cayenne is brown, Bodacious Brown. Deal with it.
More coming.
Matt
Day 2 - 12:28 PM
Just completed eating my gas-station lunch consisting of a sandwich, Pringles and a Mars bar for lunch. Love road trips!
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| Photo: Mathieu St-Pierre/Auto123.com |
As it stands, we've covered roughly half the distance we need to do for day 1.
The mountains are beautiful, the sky is peppered with clouds, rainbows, sun and eagles. This is gorgeous country.
So far, the Cayennes have performed flawlessly and proving to be seriously competent and comfortable.
Matt
Day 2 - 4:10 PM
Amazingly and unfortunately, Day 1 of the trip has already come to a close. We travelled roughly 850 km at an average speed of 95 km/h over a period of nearly 9.5 hours.
Amazingly, because I expected the drive to be very long and uneventful, and it was, thanks in no small part to the Porsche Cayenne which soaked up every kilometre with insane ease. So incredibly did our Cayenne Hybrid perform that it managed an average of only 9.5 L/100 km. Do remember that we crossed the Rockies from the West over to the East and then held North through the mountains for the remainder of the day.
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| Photo: Mathieu St-Pierre/Auto123.com |
Rick Bye and Tony Morris, Porsche reps and all-around nice guys, reared up the rear in their Cayenne S hauling a trailer loaded with parts and other gear. Suffice it to say that their rig required lots more Black Gold than our Green machine.
Unfortunately, because 1/3 of my short stint with the Arctic Route Adventure crew has already come to pass. As Harry and I discussed the weather, the strange restaurant names along the route (The Wee Chippy, fish and chips) and other such interesting topics, we both agreed that we'd love to continue on with our new Italian friends all the way to Anchorage.
Dinner awaits, then bed, then back on the road.
Next stop: Fort Nelson, BC.
Matt
Day 2 - 5:45 PM
Highway 97 outsmarts the navigation system
As you might have guessed, yesterday was quite an uneventful day. In fact, the only action we experienced was faulty navigation directions from the Porsche while trying to get to our hotel in Prince George.
Harry, an Albertan who travels quite a lot and likes purple tulips, noticed the Four Seasons on HWY 97 as we entered PG. He quickly jumped on the radio to inform the others. Unfortunately, 2 of the radios were dead including Rick and Tony's. We decided then to pull over at the next gas station to regroup. It appears as though Navteq, the company that updates the maps may have missed the fact that there's a HWY 97 North as well as South. The hotel, being on the latter.
Once the Cayennes unloaded, Stefano Vichi, the organizer and Italian team leader, piped up and suggested we have dinner at the hotel. As roast beef was the special of the evening, he thought he'd allow himself to be tempted by Northern Canadian cooking. A mistake perhaps?
Matt
Day 2 - 7:30 PM
Thumbs down for the house wine
We settled in at the Blackwater Restaurant and placed our orders. Stefano, being the only one of his gang able to speak and understand English, placed the order for his team. Following a series of comments and jokes with the waitress, the order was taken. One of his counterparts decided on complementing his meal with some wine. Another mistake perhaps?
Let's simply say that the ordered roast beef and burgers were not to everyone's taste and the wine, well the 1/2 litre of house red did not receive any praise from the group. Italians have a fine palate, n'est-ce pas? On the other hand, the staff and service were beyond reproach.
Matt